[Goriders]

Originally Posted by TOfan

We need a star player worth $10.5? Now? I don’t think so. I think that’s the opposite of what the Flames need for the foreseeable future.

The Flames are starting a rebuild. It’s already happening. In a little over two months time I’ll bet they’re under the cap, with room to spare. They’ll have moved on from the three remaining UFA’s and maybe more. Sure, they may take some cap back to make deals work or retain salary, so technically they’ll be close to the cap but I don’t think their intentions are going to be spend to the cap to compete, it’s going to be more about spending cap to acquire assets (draft picks).

I suspect with what Conroy/Iggy/Nonnis/Maloney are attempting to build the next Flame to earn $10.5/year is a player they haven’t drafted yet. In other words, we’re, at the absolute very least, four years away from that. Likely more. And at that point, what’s the cap going to be in 2027/28?

Gio’s right, Huberdeau’s cap hit isn’t a concern, right now. I don’t see a scenario where it prevents them from proceeding on a rebuild/retool for this season and 2-3 more. Could it be four-five-six years down the road? Yes, that could be the case but there’s a lot of things that could happen between now and then.

So the Flames don’t need good players?